About

If time allows with two little kids, a demanding job as teacher, author, cousellor and therapist and life between Europe and Africa, I am blogging in order to connect worlds.

I may add this has become much more difficult in recent month. Times are a changing rapidly and I am weary of sharing too much online. Death threats and other niceties are a reality and as a social worker there is just no budget for a body guard.

I traveled 29 countries so far, worked for different organisations in Germany, UK, USA and Africa. I even got to play my violin before the Nigerian president.

I am overwhelmed by the opportunities to help and the reluctance of the average citizen to make his time and resources available to help. Life in South Africa has a potential to be frustrating to the point of it becoming comical, just remember the fake interpreter incident …

Often all it takes is a little inspiration.

Being a link between God’s dream and the sad realities on earth is what I want to be – help to water the desert.

I am involved in outreach to a Special needs school, running anti child-abuse campaigns, training teenagers to get involved in their communities and pastoring a church while also heading a preschool.

It amazes me how the same act can be so right and understood in one culture, and so condemned in the next. How one culture demands a certain approach and the other judges the same attitude as undesirable.

I’ve been living in different cultures and been subjected to a lot of prejudice. Along with my passion for language (I speak 6 of them) comes a huge need to communicate and to avoid being misunderstood.

This blog is about reflecting on my exoeriences, about improving my interaction with the world around me and learning to speak their language so they would not miss the message.

I can think better when I am talking with someone about it, and I definitely am more motivated to write when I can write a letter I know will be read. So blogging might just give me this imaginary audience to help me make sense of it all.

Posts worth checking out – I promise although informative, they aren’t written formal or boring at all.

79 thoughts on “About”

Dear Christiane, thanks for liking my blog on appeasement. I admire your efforts at trying to combat child abuse and basically make the world a better place in which to live. South Africans are probably very religious but here in the United States a moral vacuum is being created in secular society and many are not impulsively making good moral decisions in their lives. My solution is a secular moral code which is non denominational and should be taught to young impressionable minds in elementary school even in communist or tyrannical countries. Check out my The Truth About Morality blog by searching it with now over 700 blogs. I am trying to write about all the important topics which any concerned and educated human should be aware of and it is with the titles The Truth About_______. eg. the truth about empathy. If you can set aside some free time in your very busy life then try searching my blogs for the keyword which you think is important for humans to know about. Best wishes. Uldis

So you decided to join the small clan of Uncle Spike followers, sometimes known as The Spikey’s….

I really appreciate you wanting to become a new follower, after all, there are many many interesting and entertaining blogs out there.

Anyway, I hope you like my upcoming posts and if you get bored one day, maybe you’ll enjoy trawling through some of my older stuff too.I have added plenty of categories now to help readers. If you have any likes, dislikes or suggestions about my blog, by all means let me know, either through ‘comments’ or via email. Always welcome reader input 🙂

Thanks again for your vote of confidence, and hope you have a great old day…

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Mobile technology transforms access for rape and abused victims in South Africa. TEARS launched their mobile helpline on Women’s day this year – dial *120*7355#.

This portal is a bridge between those affected by rape and sexual abuse and quality care healing, police and legal service providers. There is nothing more isolating than the pain of violation, which is further aggravated by not being able to find crucial assistance or being demeaned by those to whom you appeal for help.

Great! You are one of the rare few leading an exciting fulfilling life. If you find the time then read some of my now almost 300 evergreen blogs. If you travel to a country in Europe like England, France, or Germany you can download my evergreen book for your husband called FUTURE PREDICTIONS FOR THE WORLD for a view of what can really happen in the near future which is not just rather outdated overly general biblical prophesy. Best wishes. Uldis.

Hi there, Uldis Sprogis,
cool to read from you. Haven’t been blogging for a while, still working hard to “make up” for a rather prolonged Europe holiday from which I recently returned. On leading an exciting life – you know it’s all about priorities and imagination, right. Is what you have around you as “hardware” good enough so that
you can happily fill in the blanks with “software” or imagination? Than you can manage to be happy in almost any circumstance. As far as outdated general biblical prophecy – my hubby correctly predicted the London slaughter already in 2010, check this: http://andriesvanheerden.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/important-notice/
the flooding that happened in the cities of Passau and Jena and elsewhere in Germany he predicted correctly 3 years before as well, http://andriesvanheerden.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/flooding-on-the-east-coast-of-the-us-new-england/
he saw a huge bloody cloud over egypt long before the violence started and also otherwise we have quite an adventurous life following the leading of the spirit even in every day life, which got us out of some real tight spots before. Think about it, a hijacker holding you at gunpoint suddenly dropping his weapon because you start praying? The police almost kept us in custody because when we were stupid enough to hand in the weapon, it was a weapon that murdered several offices before. the CCTV of the parkade proved our story true though.
Will love reading your blog. And hopefully get blogging soon enough again too. In the meantime you’re most welcome to check http://andriesvanheerden.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/god-said-2013/ for some cool inspiration for the present year, although its probably more South Africa related.

Hi, welcome and thanks for the follow! Have fun trying out the blogger world, dropping a line here and there in blogs you find interesting will prompt people to go back and find out more about you, too. I hope you will travel a lot and write about it! Life’s fun!

Hi, thanks so much for the like. I’ve really enjoyed exploring your blog, especially the post about Afrikaans, it all sounds so familiar and I love hearing about this country written in a refreshing voice like yours. God bless as you continue on this journey! Blue Xx

Thank you for stopping by and reading some of my stories! I really loved the article about Landshut. Germany is my ancestral home, and I love learning more about it. The stories set in “Hallow Hill’s” universe were styled somewhat after North Germanic styles but alpha readers found the old german titles hard to swallow.

Hi Mike, thanks so much for takingthe time to comment here!
I really love fantasy, and my family is flying from South Africa to Landshut, Germany, to see these awesome knightly games live! My boys spend all their days in costume and we love making up elaborate tales. No wonder, we’ve got a castle in our living room! Good luck with your tales!

Thank you for visiting my blog, glad you liked it! Interesting to read your posts about cultural differences. I visited East Germany a few times in the eighties – it was a very different place back then.

I love traveling around the globe and my view of the place greatly changes depending on who I stay with. Hotel and tourguides, private families, adventurers, right wingers – they all seem to experience very different realities. My East German childhood was coined by opposites: Huge circle of friends of musicians, politically incorrects and intellectuals, wood cabinsand hikes in the forrest, classical concerts, school principals pressuring me to renounce my faith, not receiving medals for being the highest achiever in public but after the event with a handshake because I was not member of communist youth, a state that paid for lunches and violin lessons, books and sports, private and public manners of speech … but all soo harmless compared to where the world is moving to right now. Its much easier to accept you arent allowed tertiary education because you are a Christian, than to accept your kids will be denied University because they are white and male, as currently the case in South Africa.

Tried to comment on your post of 28 & 29 April. First, no one reading? Tough situation. If I was selling books, all I would want is the royalty. No, not true. I want to entertain and make a difference. On 28 April—nice test.

To comment on that: the people have a right to refuse based on any belief, religious or otherwise. It is, after all, their land; that is, unless they hold it open to the general public, then there are itchy issues involved. People also have a right to ridicule and make jokes regarding them. It all goes around.

Hi, thanks for taking time to comment. The responses to “no one reading” surprise me. I was not throwing a toddler sized tantrum of self pity, I was sarcastically remarking that people do not seem to really READ through but instead jsut like. I am going to change the header to reflect that 🙂 People are, infact, reading … Bridging world is about cultural differences as well. In Germany, a head-on-confrontation is not an unfriendly thing at all about a sign you truly care. In the English speaking world, people are taught, it seems, to stay nobly silent 🙂
People must not be criticized or even fined for their religious beliefs when they are not harming anyone.

I generally agree that people should not be criticized or fined by the government for practicing their religious beliefs so long as no one is harmed, but. . . .the right of individuals to poke fun, well, that is the standard American way. Official sanction, no. Maybe I am trying to be too nuanced with too few words.

I disagree that English -speaking people in general are expected to stay nobly silent. Maybe that is a trait of the English people, but not of those in the colonies to my experience ( I was born in Cambridgeshire and have dual American and UK citizenship)

Wow! How wonderful to read a real perspective of a World issue many as you mentioned deem “uncomfortable”. I work with youth and sexual attacks are real than many think. I am living in Oman. I will definitely follow your blog! I thank you for visiting mine and liking my post! God bless you! May God keep strengthening you for this ardous task.

Hi, what an honour! Thanks for following me. Tackling such hurtful issues is not easy. But I find it even harder to write “fluffy feel good” stuff! The world is not in a good place right now. Pastors are criticised when they do not want to marry homosexual couples because its against their religion, but when young men in the middle east get beheaded because they are gay, nobody cries out. They say: Its against their religion. I do not understand. Women in Afghanistan suffer in prison for accusations of adultery or even get stoned to death. Football players in the USA gang rape underaged girls and the press only mourns that they may have ended their career. As children of God we should add salt to stop the poison in a festering world.

The fluffy feeling writing is for tender issues. Issues that destroy a life at a tender age are not to be written with a sugar coat. I recently commented on a wonderful post about the Pakistani girl who survived a gun shot to the head, stating how people are so unaware of what people, especially youth, go through in those countries. Unfortunately, our media instead of broadening our world perspective has narrow it in many ways. I know God is powerful to help us bring forth that light to those that have yet been able to see. God bless you!

Hey…First, thank you so much for coming by my blog and “liking” my post. I skimmed over some of you posts and I can’t wait to find time to read more. I have 3 children so I know how busy you are with family and balancing life. God Bless you and your family…and the work you are doing through your writing. ~E

Thanks a lot! Finding time to blog is a real treat after the kids are in bed and hubby is happy or out on a house visitation … Most blog posts that go through my head as I deal with trauma in daily African life, or as I wash dishes pondering about the deep things my 4 year old said, never get written … the few thoughts I manage to write down – I hope they can inspire somebody! thanks for checking in!

I’m just curious. Why do you seem to have such an obsession with rape — or rather, with the distorted perception of rape stats that’s wielded as a cudgel by overbearing, misandrist third-wave feminists?

Hi Scott, strange that you would think anyone could be obsessed with rape? Something tells me clearly you have not bothered to read any of my posts on the subject. I live in South Africa, a country in which one third of all women and girls are raped before the age of 18. This has nothing to do with feminism at all. Right now, several political and non political organizations are leading big campaigns to encourage citizens to speak up against rape: look at Lead SA for example http://leadsa.co.za/ – most schools joing this campaign to take the pledge to not rape, this is how serious the topic is here. http://leadsa.co.za/?p=12718 The Department of Basic Education (DBE) and LEAD SA have announced details of a major initiative to raise rape awareness and educate the 10,2-million learners in South African schools. I do not think our Department of Education is obsessed with rape?
On Sunday the City Press reported http://www.citypress.co.za/politics/church-must-combat-rape/ ANC deputy president Ramaphosa has called on Christians to stand up against rape and corruption. Ramaphosa said Christians needed to ‘become the moral conscience of our country’ and act as agents to raise the moral consciousness of the nation. Is he a feminist? I don’t think so haha. He called on churches to stand up against the epidemic in our nation. As a pastor, that’s exactly what I am doing. Before you throw your criticism around, please make sure you read the articles in question and inform yourself thoroughly. Lest you look like a third wave cave man.

Well I love your work, and the light you shed on injustice in the world and I have nominated you for this very reason for the sunshine award…..http://writingthebody.wordpress.com. I do hope you accept!

Hi there! I just was nominated myself, and now I’m nominating you for the Liebster Award. It recognizes up-and-coming blogs, particularly those with less than 200 followers. Visit my blog for all the details, and thanks for inspiring me. Congratulations! —Jadi

I envy you!! I want to travel so badly, but I have to finish at least a Bachelor’s Degree first!!! I love money from other coutries and cultures in other countries! I’ve only been outside of the U.S. once, to the Bahamas!! Is traveling and seeing the world as amazing as I think it is?! 🙂

It definitely is really worth it. Open mind, low comfort expectations and a knack for languages do help, but essentially you could just get a ticket and go. As a student I worked 6 jobs to finance my trips across the globe, sometimes the decision was made at the travel agency walking in asking: Any cheap specials for tomorrow morning?
I do struggle with Aspergers myself, but since I “see myself” I know what to look out for and do allow for the space to adjust. People tire me immensely, but being immersed in an anonymous crowd is stimulating to me. You gotta try! I taught my little boys from early on to find safety in personal routines rather than objects or surroundings, so they are comfortable anywhere, as long as mommy has a story and a song.

Hi! Just stopped by to check out your blog and say thank for the likes on mine 🙂 I really like what you are doing here. I’m so sick of rape and violence in this world of ours. The condoning has to stop. Keep shining that light!

Hi Cvheerden,a delightful,inspiring ,loving and heartily about.In every good deed,in every kind word there is God’s touch.Individuals make society what it is.I wish you luck with your endeavors.Thank you for liking my post ( Authentic responsibility..) God bless you and your family..jalal Michael

Hi, thanks for stopping by. WordPress frustrates me though by leading you to my about page instead of my recent articles about rape and sexual violence in South Africa and why I am busy doing to challenge civilian courage to get involved and step up to step in to stop this madness. If you are interested in the topic pls just hit the home button.. The more people get aware and start to get involved the more likely we are to change the vicious cycle of abuse, criminals getting away and just doing it again.

l am from the Middle – East and l have seen the violence against women in my country first hand.l have written more than tens of articles about women being raped,abused ,Human trafficking,,honor killing,young girls being forced to marry older men.The evil of slavery in the Arab world .l hope you will browse through my blog and read for your self.l was ill treated in my country because l defended
women through out my life.l wrote about Darfor,the genocides in North Africa,in the Middle – East..Jalal

Greetings and thank you for your lovely comments. May I ask you a favour could you please repost your comment again under “Of Traboules, towers and secret passageways”. For some reason it came under someone else’s comment and I cant reply back. Many thanks…the comment was the following.

Here in South Africa they sometimes try to artificially create that kind of effect. In the beginning it made me sick, fake Baroque casino’s, fake antique restaurants etc … now I smile and appreciate the effort. That’s how we change through our surroundings.

Hi – I actually love it soo much more than living in Germany. This is a vibrant nation with millions of challenges whereas Germany is very set in its ways although they like to think they are very progressive. I prefer the clay of opportunity of a nation still in the making, and the rainbow aspect of south Africa gives someone like me a chance to fit in without having to be uniform! Thanks for reading my blog. You take stunning photos. How do you watermark them on wordpress?

Greetings from Australia,
You sure must face many challenges living in South Africa, especially coming from Germany. I’m Australian of European heritage and I have to overcome cultural differences with my German fiance. But I suppose overcoming these differences teaches us about humility which then opens the door of our hearts to unconditional love, a difficult but worthwhile journey.
God bless

Hi Jonathan, thanks for the comment. I think in Southafrica it is almost unavoidable to save a life if we really care. My policy of “do not turn anybody away” is really easy to follow by anyone. We will never knew what we prevented from happening – but I really could not live with myself reading in the morning paper about someone being victimized who turned to me for help. So I mostly might never know if I saved a life … trying to create some jobs at the moment for people who would be able to take in “emergencies.”
I enjoy your blog, thanks for takign the time to put down your thoughts for the readers.